Elite nursery Daandine Stud celebrates a century of success
From its base in Queensland’s picturesque Goomburra Valley, Daandine Stud is celebrating a century in the thoroughbred industry, a milestone that reflects generations of family involvement and a breeding philosophy that has consistently produced elite racehorses from a modest broodmare band.
Run by Jan Clark alongside fellow director John Robbins and stud manager Gerard Jones, the Darling Downs nursery operates on a scale far smaller than many commercial farms, with just 20 mares. Yet despite its boutique size, Daandine has produced some of the most recognisable names in Australian racing and breeding.
Among them are champion stallion Written Tycoon (Iglesia), Champion 2YO Colt turned stallion Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and dual Group 1 winner Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), who now stands at Widden Stud in Victoria.
The honour roll more recently includes star mare Isotope (Deep Field), who sold to Yulong Stud for $2.3 million in 2023. Her first foal, a filly by Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), will be offered at the upcoming Inglis Easter Yearling Sale as Lot 356.
Emerging runners such as Ciaron Maher’s unbeaten filly Educated (Zoustar) and Hong Kong’s Salon S (Zousain), who is now three-from-three in the jurisdiction, have continued to underline the farm’s ability to produce high-quality performers.
“People are starting to know that Daandine produces winners,” Robbins said. “We’ve got a good name throughout, probably Australia, and our name is getting stronger every year. We get repeat buyers, particularly in January.”
The farm’s roots stretch back more than a century. Clark represents the fourth generation of her family involved in the operation, which became a commercial enterprise in 1926 before relocating to the fertile Goomburra Valley in 1948.
The farm’s identity is also reflected in its distinctive brand, a crescent symbol that has become a recognisable mark on horses raised at Daandine and a nod to the Clark family’s history. The brand has been used by the family for generations and remains one of the farm’s most enduring traditions.
“We still brand the old Queensland way,” Clark said. “My family had sailing yachts in the 1840s, and there was always a black crescent on the sail. I’m not sure of the exact origins, because I never knew my grandfather or my great grandfather. And Dad didn’t seem to know, but we’ve always had that brand registered.”
“My great grandfather James Clark started out,” Clark said. “There’s been four generations of the Clarks involved, and they turned commercial in about 1926. So we are 100 years old. It’s generational and it’s genetic with me.
“It’s in a beautiful part of the world, it’s in a valley with the beautiful Dalrymple Creek running through it, so it’s creek flats. Very good water with high calcium.”
Robbins believes the land itself plays a role in the development of the farm’s young horses.
“We had some water tested there when we put a new bore down and we were told this water has got the highest calcium percentage that he has ever stuck,” Robbins said. “That helps bone growth and development and all the stuff. That’s a plus. We have nearly 1400 acres of it. It’s all in horse country.”
While Daandine has long been involved in breeding, Robbins believes the modern era of the farm began with a strategic shift more than a decade ago.
“I think the changing point, as far as the horse side of the business goes, is when we upgraded in 2012,” he said. “We realised we had to do something if we wanted to stay on this side of the business. We needed to have better mares and select stallions.”
To help drive that change, the farm enlisted bloodstock agent Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock, beginning with the purchase of mare Kitalpha (Fusaichi Pegasus) for $82,500 at the 2012 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
The mating that followed would produce one of the farm’s most famous graduates.
“It’s what we aimed to do when we upgraded in 2012,” Clark said. “Kitalpha was one of the first two mares we bought in the upgrade program. So we didn’t really expect to do that well that quickly. But it just happened, because we aimed at that market.”
In what proved perfect timing for the farm’s upgrade program, Written Tycoon had just been crowned Champion First Season Sire of 2010-11 and stood the 2012 season at Eliza Park’s Innisplain property in Queensland before returning permanently to Victoria.
“Written Tycoon came up to Queensland, and we took advantage of that, and his service fee was nowhere near where it is now. When he came up to Queensland, with the two mares we had bought, we made a beeline for him.”
The resulting foal was Capitalist, who was sold for $165,000 to James Harron and Snowden Racing at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale before going on to become the first colt to win the Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m), Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) and the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m).
“He was the cheapest one that James Harron bought that year,” Clark said. “They probably looked at him 25 or 30 times. He and Snowden would come at different times of the day to see how his demeanour was and he was perfect.”
Capitalist later joined the roster at Newgate Farm and has since become a rather successful stallion, siring 452 winners including 29 at stakes level and two elite-level winners.
“I think it’s every breeder’s dream to win a Golden Slipper and we were very lucky and appreciate very much what it took to do that,” she said. “Particularly, given we had bred the stallion as well. From a small farm from humble beginnings and that’s the result. But we’d like to do it again, too.”
Despite producing elite performers, Daandine has intentionally remained a small operation, focusing on quality rather than numbers.
“We only have 20 mares and we send all the mares away, mainly to the Hunter Valley and to the top Queensland sires,” Robbins said. “What we aim for is early, two-year-old speed.”
Explaining the process, Clark said: “We have a meeting and then it’s a team contribution between us, Gerard and Craig, as to who and where we go for the final decision. So, it’s a team effort.”
Robbins added: “It’s the most expensive part of the business, so you have to try and get it right. And we’ve been fairly successful.”
Clark believes the strength of the farm lies not only in its breeding strategy but in the people behind the operation.
“It was unbelievable to think, just a couple of years after that we produced the winner of the Magic Millions and the Golden Slipper,” she said. “We achieved our goal remarkably quickly. And we’ve done it with the help of other people. John and Craig have been an integral part of all of that. And, of course, our staff.”
Four permanent staff live and work on the property, with additional casual help assisting during busy periods such as yearling preparation. Robbins and Clark believe the team has been a crucial part of the farm’s continued success.
“I’d say that we’ve got to give a lot of credit to the staff we’ve got now,” he said. “They’re the best team you could ever put together. And they’re a happy team. They work well together.”
Stud manager Gerard Jones said the farm’s growing reputation at the sales reflects improvements in both systems and a clearer understanding of the type of horse Daandine wants to produce.
“We’ve really started to identify the product we want to bring to the sales, and it’s starting to show with the results,” Jones said.
“Having the team we’ve got there now, we can do that, and from January and this sale here [Easter], it shows you that the systems we’ve got are producing a nice type. And the buyers want to put their hand up for us.”
Despite producing high-profile graduates, Clark emphasised that the farm’s goal remains to cater to a wide range of buyers.
“I think we’ve accomplished a lot for being a very small stud, with not many mares,” she said. “But a lot goes into the fact that teamwork and what we’ve chosen to do, we produce horses for all budgets.”
Robbins believes that philosophy has helped build a loyal client base that continues to return year after year.
“Anyone can buy a horse off us and we have winners every week, everywhere,” he said. “We have a horse for every budget and that’s why we get people coming back.”
For Clark, the approach is simple – keep the operation practical, stay loyal to the people involved and allow the horses to develop naturally.
“With me it’s genetic,” she said. “I just have to do it. So we just continue to try and get better and keep it simple and natural. We let them grow out naturally and just be horses, and it is working.”
And while Daandine has already achieved what many breeders only dream of, Clark said the excitement of what might come next never fades.
“Every time we look at the weanlings,” she said, “you just don’t know which one might be the next one, do you?”